West Covina --
West Covina Buddhist Temple initiated its two-year "Living Dharma Seminar
Series." The first seminar was entitled, "Sakyamuni Buddha and Amida
Buddha," and featured speaker Dr. Nobuo Haneda. Dr. Haneda, one of the most in-demand
Shinshu speakers today, is director of the Maida Center of Buddhism in Berkeley,
California. WCBT was very fortunate to be able to have him for our first seminar. The
title of this seminar refers, of course, to the historical (Sakyamuni) Buddha and the
"symbolic" or "universal" (Amida) Buddha. The unanimous feeling of
Rev. Ken and our Temple Communications Staff was that this topic and this speaker would
make for a great first seminar.

Throughout
his morning and afternoon presentations, Dr. Haneda was always dynamic, highly organized
and easy to follow. One of the many highlights of his talk came near the beginning, when
he related his famous "fish story," which parallels his encounter with his
teacher, Shuichi Maida. While dining at a famous restaurant in Hawaii about 10 years ago
that featured a large fish pond, Dr. Haneda witnessed an event in that pond that allowed
him to understand his initial encounter with his teacher during his days as a college
student. He saw an entire school of tiny fish sucked into the wake of a very large fish
which was swimming close by. The tiny fish were all turned around 180 degrees. In watching
these fish, Dr. Haneda realized that in same way, he had been "turned around"
and taken in the direction of his teachers "tremendous power." "For
the past 30 years, Ive been investigating the source of this power that is the
only concern I have it is very important to have one question and pursue it," he
said. "In Buddhism, we dont have to know many things, just one thing, one
important experienceand we just keep deepening our understanding of it."

One
of Dr. Hanedas points of emphasis was to clarify the basic differences between
Buddhism and Christianity. He did this to show that neither Sakyamuni Buddha nor Amida
Buddha are divine beings, which is a common misunderstanding. Christianity talks about
God, which is divine, unknowable and unseeable. Furthermore, Christianity never talks
about humans becoming God or gods. However, instead of the basic duality which exists in
Christianity between the divine and human, Buddhism only talks about two kinds of humansdeluded
and awakened. And most importantly, that we all can and shouldthrough deep insight
and understanding of ourselvesbecome buddhas ourselves. However, Dr. Haneda
cautioned us not to think that Buddhism is therefore the same thing as so-called
"secular humanism." "Only Buddhism talks about the total negation of the
self [therefore,] Buddhism is not human-centered (secular humanism), nor is it
God-centered (Christianity); Buddhism is Dharma-centered."

In
moving on to discuss Sakyamuni Buddha, Dr. Haneda focused on what are known as the Three
Dharma Marks. These three "marks" refer to the key characteristics or concepts
of Buddhism. "When Shakyamuni was alive, non-Buddhists would approach him or his
disciples and ask, What is Buddhism?, and they would always answer, Suffering
(or difficulty), impermanence and selflessness," he said. Of course, most
Buddhists are familiar with well-known statement that "life is suffering," Dr.
Haneda however, explained its true meaning. "We all understand that aging, illness
and death are difficult, but also, happiness is difficultwe like to maintain it
forever, but we cannot both happiness and unhappiness are difficult." The second
"mark," the truth of impermanence in BuddhismDhammais like
"medicine" or the cure for the suffering and difficulty of life. It is this
truth which can liberate us from suffering. Finally, the third Dharma mark, selflessness,
represents the "cured condition" in Buddhism.

Perhaps
most importantly for us today, these three marks or concepts actually come from Shakyamunis
life experiences as symbolized in the famous story of the Four Gates. Through the first
three gates, Shakyamuni witnessed for the first time, aging, illness and death. "But
when Shakyamuni traveled through the fourth gate, he saw a mendicant, a traveling monk, a
seeker he saw a buddha," said Dr. Haneda. The key point is that, as opposed to
the terrible negative truths of impermanence Sakyamuni experienced through the first three
gates, the mendicant represented the same truth of impermanence, but this time, "it
was manifested in a positive way," he said. "Seeing the monk awakened in young
Sakyamuni his desire, his aspiration to be a buddha himself."

Another highlight came when
Dr. Haneda focused on what he termed the "core of Buddhism," which is
meditation. Meditation is what Sakyamuni did under the Bodhi Tree. But, in contrast to
other forms of meditation, such as Yogic meditation, or Transendental Meditation,
"Buddhist meditation is nothing but self-examination; it is not a way of enjoying a
trance, it is not a way of enjoying peace of mind," Dr. Haneda emphasized. "It
is a serious way of understanding the self, or even of doubting the self." The
essence of what the Buddha discovered in his meditation was that, not only was everything
impermanent outside of himselfall life is of course constantly moving, flowing and
changingbut also "Everything in me, body and mind, are impermanentthis
was the content of his enlightenment," Dr. Haneda stated. "He became
impermanence itself he became one with the Dhamma. The most important thing is that
Buddha understood this reality as a basic component of himself."

Dr.
Haneda went on to clarify that Shakyamunis awakening clearly includes two aspects, a
negative or "endarkened" aspectthe total negation of his self, or
emptinessand a positive or "enlightened" aspectthe tremendously
positive realization that everything is constantly new, dynamic, creative and fresh. Dr.
Haneda pointed out that, "He was freed from all his hangups, assertions and
attachments he became a constant seeker and learner." Dr. Haneda added that the
implication of this to us in our lives is that this one truth of impermanence could
therefore either be "Our worst enemy or our best friend it all depends on the
direction we take. If we try to go against this truth, it is our worst enemy; impermanence
will take away everything. But when we recognize the mistake and change our direction, it
becomes our best friend, the source of our creative energy. Nothing is greater than this
truth, than the newness and freshness of life who wouldnt aspire for this? This
is the ultimate thing we want to embody. Dont we want to become a creative person?
Dont we want to be able to appreciate the freshness of life every day, every
moment?"

Importantly,
later in the talk, Dr. Haneda also stated that Jodo Shinshu is undeniably a Buddhist
tradition, and not simply a "Japanese tradition," because Shinran Shonin
realized these same three concepts (difficulty, impermanence, selflessness). "Shinjin
is nothing more than the same twofold insight that Sakyamuni received: deep understanding
of the self (negative; understanding the sickness) and deep understanding of Dhamma
(positive; the medicine or cure). Thats why Jodo Shinshu is Buddhism," he said.

After the lunch break, Dr. Haneda began his discussion of Amida Buddha, Dr. Haneda first
shed light on the underlying reasons for the rise of the Mahayana branch of Buddhism which
came into being around 300 years after Sakyamunis death. The Mahayana felt that the
Buddhas original disciples, or Theravada, had unknowinglyout of admiration for
their teacheractually "fossilized" or "dogmatized" his
teachings. The Mahayana came into prominence because they felt the Theravada had lost the
essence of what the Buddha really wanted to say. The Mahayana clarified what the Buddha
really wanted to teach us, and thus revitalized Buddhism. To the Mahayana, the essence of
the Buddhas message was not his words and thought. "It was actually his spirit
that we should identify with," Dr. Haneda said.

The
key sutra of our Jodo Shinshu tradition (one of many Mahayana traditions), is the Larger
Sukhavativyuha Sutta, which contains the story of Dhammakara, who becomes Amida Buddha.
Sukhavativyuha, a Sanskrit term, means "land of blissful happiness," or the
"elimination of difficulty and suffering." And, what this sutra is really about
is "that which created Shakyamuni," said Dr. Haneda. "Thus, the Mahayana
shifted the emphasis from that which Shakyamuni created to that which
created Sakyamuni." They identified the source of this inspiration as
"Amida" or "Hongan." "Hon, "Dr. Haneda explained,
"means early, old, ancient, former, original, basic. Gan means desire,
aspiration, vow. This is the most important concept in Jodo Shinshu. It means the deepest,
most basic human desire to live in the most meaningful way."

Tying
the concept of Hongan back to his "fish story," Dr. Haneda explained that the
power his teacher, Shuichi Maida (the "big fish"), possessed, was in fact
Hongan. "I encountered this power in my teacher," he said. Furthermore, this
power is the same power that Shakyamuni experienced in the mendicant and that Shinran
experienced in his teacher, Honen. What is the relation between Amida Buddha and Hongan?
Dr. Haneda clarified that "Amida Buddha is an ideal Buddhist, and his spirit is
Hongan."

Is
Amida then basically a "symbol" of Sakyamuni? Dr. Haneda said that Amida
certainly could be seen as such. However, "That is a rather shallow, narrow way of
interpreting Amida," he said. "This is because the Mahayana, in creating the
concept of Amida, really wanted to show the universal basis of Sakyamunis spirit,
they wanted to clarify that which created Sakyamuni. Thus, another way of explaining Amida
is that it ultimately represents the Dharma of impermanence itself, the powerful force
that liberated Sakyamuni. Amida is thus symbolizing the basis of all historical buddhas,
including Sakyamuni. These people became buddhas because they personified, or became one
with, the Dharma."

His
final topic was regarding the story of Dhammakara himself in the sutra. In the story,
Dhammakara (who was a king), meets the Buddha Lokeshvararaja, who awakens his desire to
become a buddha also. Thus the meeting with the teacher is so important, and is the same
meeting described earlier in the discussion of the fish story, the Four Gates, etc. In
essence, Dhammakara, through certain practices, becomes a buddha by the name of Namu Amida
Butsu, or "Bowing Amida Buddha." Dr. Haneda emphasized here that, at a certain
point in the story, Dharmakaras focus shifts from praising his teacher to his
statement of his own desire (gan) to become a buddha himself. "This aspiration and
desire is so important in Buddhism," Dr. Haneda said. His aspiration is expressed in
the 48 vows which are a part of the Larger Sutta, but to Dr. Haneda, they can all be
summarized by one vow. In the sutra, Dharmakara essentially says, "If I liberate all
sentient beings, then I will become a Buddha."

The
final, and perhaps greatest highlight of the seminar, came when Dr. Haneda clarified what
this vow really means. He said, "What Dhammakara is really saying is, If I come
to see all sentient beings as buddhas, then I will become a buddha. Hes not
talking about saving others. Hes talking about liberating them in his mind If
there is a change to be realized in Buddhism, it is a change only in ourself. This is
Buddhism, this is self-examination. This is why Dharmakaras name as a buddha is Namu
Amida Butsu bowing [namu] is part of his name," Dr. Haneda said. "This one
statement, this one name, Namu Amida Butsu, contains everything important in Buddhism. If
we truly understand the meaning contained in this one name, Bowing Amida Buddha,
which is the deep aspiration, or Hongan, and if we understand that the name has meaning,
then that meaningand our identification with itis what liberates us."

Dhamma
Times Editor: Sakyamuni Buddha was born into this world more than 2500 years ago,
he lived as an extrodinary man and touched the lives of many, we as followers of the
Buddha must acknowledge Sakyamuni Buddha as our Fundamental Teacher, regardless of sects
or traditions and be united under our Holy Teacher- The Buddha.